Simien’s truck rescued from Topeka

The parents of Kansas University senior basketball player Wayne Simien traveled to Topeka on Wednesday to retrieve their son's stolen truck.

Margaret and Wayne Simien Sr. of Leavenworth discovered the exterior of their son's 1992 GMC Sierra was undamaged, but several key items had been stolen.

The chrome wheels and stereo system of the truck -- taken from Simien's Lawrence apartment complex June 29 and found by police on a Topeka side street near the airport Tuesday -- were missing. The steering console was torn up to remove the sound system.

Also, a new battery had been replaced with an old one, and new tires had been replaced with old tires that happened to be flat.

"They took receipts, hats, CDs," Simien's mom said. "The only thing they left was a Bible in the glove box. They should have taken time to read (commandment) No. 7: 'Thou shalt not steal.'"

"Wayne was surprised they left the Bible. He said they should have been driving around reading that," Margaret Simien said of her son, who currently is in Indianapolis working as a counselor at a Nike camp. "Maybe they'll hold a Bible study with the other one. For their sake, they need one."

Authorities have not nabbed the individuals who stole the truck.

Obviously aware of the publicity surrounding the truck's disappearance, the thieves scratched out the words "Big Dub" and his jersey number 23 from the back window.

"They probably did that because of (a recent Journal-World) article describing the truck," Margaret Simien said. "They probably knew they couldn't keep the truck because so many KU fans knew what it looked like, so they drove it to a side street by the Topeka airport. We're glad we have the truck. We will put in a new stereo system and an alarm system this time, too.

"It's just a possession. Nobody was hurt. Insurance will cover it. We're thankful of all that."